Five Seasons (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: A. B. Yehoshua
- First Published: 1987
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: The 1980’s
- Setting: Israel, Paris, Berlin, and Vienna
- Principal Characters: Molkho, His Unnamed Wife, Omri, Enat, Gabi, Molkho’s Morhet, Mrs. Starkmann, The Housekeeper, The Legal Adviser, The Indian Girl, Uri, Ya’ara, Nina Zand
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: Family or family life, Sex or sexuality, 1980’s, Cancer, Jews or Jewish life, Lawyers, Widows or widowers, Israel or Israelis
- Locales: Paris, France, Berlin, Germany, Vienna, Austria, Israel
Early in Five Seasons there is a reference to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813), where harried Mr. Bennet has the problem of disposing of five marriageable daughters. Assuming the mantle of an Israeli Jane Austen, A. B. Yehoshua in Five Seasons portrays a middle-aged widower with an even more difficult problem: disposing of himself. For Molkho, a husband’s fantasy comes true: His wife dies of cancer, leaving him free to pursue other women. And why not? While caring for his wife during the seven years of her illness, he has faithfully abstained from sex....
[The entire page is 2071 words long]
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